EXCLUSIVE: Belgian boys show no Mersey ahead of Everton-Liverpool derby

AFTER playing together for Belgium on Tuesday, Everton duo Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas and Liverpool’s Simon Mignolet will become rivals again in tomorrow’s Merseyside derby. PAUL JOYCE caught up with the trio to discuss the battle for bragging rights, the World Cup – and one-on-ones.

Q: You’ve just spent the past 10 days together with Belgium. Can you learn anything during that time which will help tomorrow?

Simon Mignolet: I will learn from them and Romelu and Kevin will learn from me. Going into a game every single shot or moment is different, but I get better from them practising their finishing and they probably get better from me trying to save their shots. But I can’t say I know where they are going to put the ball.

Romelu Lukaku: I have trained with Simon since I was 15 or 16 and, one versus one, he is the best goalkeeper because he makes himself big. And you get lost. I remember when I was 16 and the first time I was one-on-one...

SM Was this with Anderlecht? I remember it.

RL: I got the ball, the defender was five metres in front of me and I went past him like it was nothing. I came in front of Simon and I thought, ‘Oh my days. What is that!’ I tried to dribble round him and he took the ball off me like I was a little child: ‘Give me that ball.’ Then 10 minutes later they scored and it was 2-1 and I was so disappointed.

We played in the last game of the season and I was in front of him again and I tried to chip him. I thought the ball was going in but ended hitting the post.

Last season when I was with West Brom was the first time I had scored against him. Two penalties and a ‘lucky’ goal, so I have never scored a ‘normal’ goal. Hopefully Saturday…

SM: I played for Sint-Truiden in that Anderlecht game. Romelu had to run from the halfway line and I had time to position myself and make sure the angle was tight. Sometimes things happen in a split-second and as a goalkeeper you are dependent on the position that you are in. Sometimes it is in favour of the striker, sometimes in favour of the goalkeeper. But we play the percentages.

Q: So it’s 1-1 in the final minute. Romelu, you are through on Simon but Kevin is in support unmarked. Shoot or pass?

RL: Pass. Always. Because it is the team. I never go for myself. And Kevin scores of course.

Simon Mignolet will oppose his fellow Belgians in the derby [GETTY]

When you put the shirt on you want to win

Romelu Lukaku

Q: Both Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez promote a passing style, could this derby lack an edge as a result?

RL: Never. No chance. It’s my first Merseyside derby, but a derby is a derby. When you put the shirt on you want to win. I lost a game for Anderlecht against Standard Liege 5-1 once and there were 2,000 fans waiting for us in front of the bus, ready to tell us what they thought. We had to wait three hours for them to be cleared. The memory of that game is already in my mind, so we will give everything.

SM: In my first derby for Sunderland we lost 5-1 to Newcastle. It’s not nice, especially being a goalkeeper. You know what it means to everyone in the town. But I also had an experience of winning 3-0.

Kevin Mirallas: I played in a Greek derby with Olympiakos and that is very different. Chaos. There is a derby on the pitch and off the pitch. It can be frightening.

Q: How have you found Roberto Martinez?

KM: Roberto is Spanish and I see that influence in Everton. I play with the goalkeeper, the defence, the midfield, the striker. A lot of players have a lot of touches of the ball. It is different. Before under David Moyes I played more directly with Marouane Fellaini, but this is more suited to my style.

RL: He is a manager who never says, ‘Rom, go inside’. He lets me work because he knows it will benefit me. He lets me work on my confidence so that it grows and grows .

KM: Normally after training a player who is 20 goes directly to the shower, gets changed, goes home. Rom will work 45 minutes longer with me or another member of the team. He has the attitude of someone who is 25 or 26.

Q: What is Kevin like? Is he Quiet?

RL: No. When he is like that he is faking. He makes the team laugh, very energetic. When you speak to him one-on-one you see he is very clever, very determined. We have known each other for so many years, since I was 14. I don’t doubt when he says something to me. The trust is there.

Q: The Premier League is so tight that winning against those sides around you can make a big difference...

SM: There are going to be a lot of games between now and February and then it is better to say this team or that team is going to be challenging. Last season everyone knew in March the title was going to be either with United or City and probably United. But now every team can beat each other.

KM: We have made a good start. The team has been playing very well. If we had beaten Tottenham two weeks ago we would have been second. This season the ambition is to reach the Champions League. We know it is difficult, but that is the aim. Winning the derby would be important for us.

Kevin Mirallas thinks the Belgian squad could be the best in the World Cup [STUART ROBINSON]

Q: Can you describe each other in three words?

SM on KM: Quick, good finisher. Now they are three good words.

RL on SM: Confident, calm, shotstopper.

KM on RL: Best. Young. Player.

Q: The Belgian squad is one of the strongest going to the World Cup. What is realistic for you next summer?

KM: Maybe we have the best squad at the World Cup, but it will be the first one for all the players bar Daniel van Buyten and Timmy Simons. We don’t have tournament experience, but I think that we can be the surprise team because I don’t think the pressure will really be on us.

SM: We are seeded which is a good thing, but if you see who is in the second, third and fourth pots you can be drawn against teams like England, Uruguay or Portugal. Someone will be in the Group of Death.

RL: I think we will be top at Euro 2016. If we continue the development of the players then you can expect a lot of great things from us at a tournament.

Q: Why are so many players from Belgium now emerging?

SM: I don’t really think the standard in the Belgium league has changed much overnight. Players like Fellaini, Kompany and Vermaelen were the first to arrive in England and showed English teams what Belgium football was capable of. Because they did so well, other teams were more likely to give opportunities to us.

RL: They opened people’s eyes and now we are waiting for the next one to come here.

Q: Back to the derby, what will be your preparations?

RL: Kevin and I play FIFA. I beat Kevin the last time we played, you can say that for sure and the loser has to put a picture of himself on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook saying the other one is better.

KM: It gets quite heated. Romelu is always Liverpool...

RL: He’s a liar! I am United or Chelsea because they are the teams with the best defences. Or Bayern Munich, but if I choose them it gets serious.

SM: If it is an early kick-off we go to the hotel and mostly the day before the game I will have a massage and look at my iPad. No computer games or PlayStation.

Your predictions for tomorrow?

SM: I would like to keep a clean sheet against them so I will go for 0-1 to Liverpool.